With the UN reporting that 1 million species are at current risk of extinction, scientists are turning to the past to uncover the conservation insights hidden in ancient DNA. Colossal Biosciences — the biotechnological startup focused on unique approaches to conservation like de-extinction and genetic rescue — has recently announced that it will expand its DNA research, allocating over $7.5 million to academic partners to add more researchers of ancient DNA, extend its network of ancient DNA university partners, establish a technological hub for ancient DNA research, and convene an ancient DNA conference.
Dr. Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s chief science officer and an expert in ancient DNA, will take the lead, developing related global partnerships and initiatives and overseeing the distribution of funds, including a $500,000 donation to the University of California, Santa Cruz’s Paleogenomics Lab, established by Shapiro.
“Ancient DNA is a discovery-based science that offers foundational understanding of how species, communities, and ecosystems have evolved over millions of years of habitat and climate change,” said Shapiro in a press release. “We believe that to support a biodiverse future, we must facilitate ancient DNA research across the world. Ancient DNA is the world’s discovery sandbox and it holds millions of yet to be discovered secrets that we can use to improve our planet’s future.”
Decoding Ancient DNA: Contributions to Conservation and Beyond
Ancient DNA is genetic material extracted from preserved samples of bones, tissue, and teeth that, despite its antiquated lineage, holds incredible value to modern conservation approaches. With novel advancements in genomic sequencing, ancient DNA can be accurately studied to uncover crucial information about a species such as its baseline traits and diversity, historical migration patterns and habitat shifts, and evolutionary history.
Investing in ancient DNA research is vital to understanding extinct species, and furthers Colossal Biosciences’ goals of reviving extinct species like the woolly mammoth, thylacine, and dodo bird while also aiding the company on its mission to preserve endangered species.
“The technologies one would need in order to bring back something similar to a mammoth are exactly the types of technologies we need to be able to protect and preserve species that are still alive today but in danger of becoming extinct like the mammoth did,” said Shapiro in a recent Q&A with health-oriented website Stat. “That is where my pure excitement about this technology lives, in this whole wealth of new biotechnologies that we have at our fingertips that we should be able to use for endangered species preservation.”
In addition to major advancements toward de-extinction like the discovery of traits critical to the woolly mammoth’s survival, Colossal is already using ancient DNA to reintroduce diversity into some of the world’s most endangered species.
In partnership with the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation and the conservation organization Re:wild, Colossal Biosciences is currently working with historical samples of the pink pigeon to identify and confer much-needed diversity back into the species. With just 500 individuals left, the pink pigeon is facing the dramatic impacts of inbreeding and low diversity and is expected to go extinct in 100 years as its effective population continues to plummet.
Using the pink pigeon’s reference genome and DNA recovered from ancient samples, Colossal can perform a comparative analysis to determine important traits now missing in the species. The company will then use advanced gene-editing technology to reinstitute these traits into the pink pigeon’s genome so they can be carried on to the next generation in a process known as genetic rescue.
As Colossal Biosciences expands its research into ancient DNA, it will continue to take on de-extinction and conservation projects while further developing the technology and applications of this novel science. The company is currently perfecting multiplex genome editing, a pioneering technique that allows edits to be made to multiple segments of a genome at once. In addition to its conservation implications, this work is expected to transform the pharmaceutical industry and the development of lifesaving drugs.
“The multiplex genome editing technologies that are being developed, the artificial womb technologies that are being developed, these all have applications outside of mammoth de-extinction, including to help people,” explained Shapiro.
That’s right — Colossal’s work with ancient DNA has human applications, and similar work has already provided evolutionary insights key to our self-understanding.
“With this ancient DNA, we have been able to narrow down the parts of our DNA code that make humans distinct from other species,” Shapiro told the Syfy Wire news site about the importance of ancient DNA from humans.
“Without data from these close relatives, we have to compare humans with chimpanzees and bonobos, which diverged from us much longer ago in evolutionary history, meaning that there will be many, many more evolutionary changes to sift through to discover those that led to us. In this case, the ancient DNA is explicitly teaching us what it is that makes humans unique. The same will be true for other living species that have closely related extinct relatives.”
A Colossal Investment in Conservation
At a time when conservation continues to be undermined and underfunded, any investment that informs conservation strategies and endangered species management is money well spent. Colossal Biosciences hopes that this investment in ancient DNA will drive research into climate migration, evolutionary modification, and ecosystem redundancy, aspects crucial to understanding and safeguarding species around the world.
Colossal remains steadfast as its work continues to advance technology-based conservation and bridge the field with ancient DNA. With the current rate of extinction up to 10,000 times higher than what’s natural, it’s clear that the traditional conservation movement isn’t doing enough to preserve our precious biodiversity. This monumental investment brings Colossal closer to its de-extinction goals and has the potential to protect our most endangered species with new approaches to conservation.
As Dr. Beth Shapiro puts it, “We should invest this much money in traditional approaches to conservation, but we also should be investing this money into developing new tools for conservation. Because while traditional approaches to conservation are great and have had some successes, we still have this exceptionally high rate of extinction. We should be thinking about how to grow our conservation toolkit as we move forward.”